Science, technology, engineering and mathematics are the key to doing everything cool in life.

That was the message NASA Astronaut Donald Pettit gave to a group of sixth-grade female students Friday afternoon. Congressman Henry Cuellar and Texas A&M International University hosted the 2017 STEM Alliance for middle and high school students in Laredo and Zapata at TAMIU.

The annual event is designed to encourage local students to consider careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields.

The 2017 STEM Alliance also included a career fair with presentations from companies, universities and government agencies and two keynote speakers: Dr. Jesus Segovia, post-doctoral fellow at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, and National Aeronautics and Space Administration Astronaut and Engineer Donald Roy Pettit.

Students were able to experience the daily activities of an astronaut through photographs Pettit showed students.

He showed students how astronauts drink coffee, where they use the bathroom and his second home.

Pettit said the journey of studying STEM landed him in space.

“You have to study all these cool subjects,” he said.

Pettit said NASA currently doesn’t have the technology to reach the seven Earth-size planets recently discovered.

“It doesn’t mean we can’t investigate at a distance,” he said.

The New York Times reported the planets could potentially harbor water and life.

“The key word here is potential,” Pettit said. “If we can see abundance of water or other trace species, that’s a step in the right direction that there’s life.”

In 1996, Pettit became an astronaut. He has logged more than 370 days in space and over 13 spacewalk hours.

A veteran of three spaceflights, in 2003 Pettit served as a NASA science officer for Expedition 6.

He has a bachelor of science in chemical engineering and a doctorate’s degree in chemical engineering.